2025 ACC Western PA Chapter Board of Directors
President - Diane Bobak
Diane Bobak is Director, Assistant General Counsel for Olympus Corporation of the Americas, a global medical technology company. She manages all commercial matters for the sales and service organizations.
Prior to joining Olympus, she served as counsel for Highmark Health, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, and was previously employed in private practice in the areas of litigation, commercial transactions, and compliance.
Diane earned her J.D. from Capital University School of Law where she served as an editor on the Law Review and received her B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh.
President Elect and Vice President Programs – Cara Group
Cara Group is Senior Legal Counsel, North America at Wavestone, an international consultancy which partners with business leaders to implement practical solutions to their most critical strategic and technology challenges. Our collaborative teams apply industry and functional expertise to help clients achieve sustainable results.
Cara also serves ACC at the network level and is a past Chair for the Small Law Department network of ACC (a global network of approximately 8,000 in-house attorneys).
She earned her B.A. in history from West Virginia Wesleyan College and her J.D. from the Duquesne University, School of Law.
Secretary - Gregory Monaco
Greg Monaco serves as Lead Counsel in the Government and Commercial Litigation Group at Federal Express Corporation. He represents the company as first-chair attorney of record in arbitrations and litigation across the United States, in addition to leading and participating in cross-functional teams that focus on the strategic initiatives of the Legal Department and the company. Prior to joining FedEx Ground as Senior Attorney in November 2016, Greg worked in private practice in Pittsburgh and Phoenix for eleven years. While in private practice, he represented clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation.
Greg is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Ohio, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington. He is former President and CLE Chair of the local chapter of the Federal Bar Association and is a duty officer for the Allegheny County Bar Association Professional Ethics Committee. He also served on the City of Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board from 2016 to 2020.
Greg received his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he served as an editor of the Iowa Law Review and on the Moot Court Executive Board. He holds a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, where he majored in Philosophy and Art History.
Treasurer - Jeanette Oliver
Jeanette Oliver is General Counsel- Renewable Energy for Mitsubishi Power Americas focusing her practice on solar and hydrogen infrastructure development projects. With 20 years of legal and executive leadership experience, she has considerable experience in board and investor relations, debt structure negotiation and execution, risk management, and corporate governance. She has broad energy sector experience providing legal support for project development, EPC, regulatory compliance, asset management, and O&M.
Vice President – Advocacy - Michael Crouse
Michael Crouse serves as General Counsel for eProductivity Software, handling a broad range of matters for the company. eProductivity Software is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and is a leading global technology provider for the packaging industry. The company offers comprehensive ERP, MES, and industry-specific software solutions. As General Counsel, Michael provides general corporate legal advice and guidance, including in the areas of licensing, procurement, and privacy.
Prior to his current role, Michael served most recently as Senior Corporate Counsel for Electronics For Imaging, Inc. and as Commercial Counsel for WESCO Distribution, Inc.
Michael is a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law.
Vice President – Communications – Nathan Platt
Nathan C. Platt is Vice President, Deputy General Counsel for Liberty Tire Recycling, LLC headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He joined Liberty Tire Recycling’s legal department in 2013 after spending a decade in private practice where he focused on business law, litigation, and general corporate matters. As Deputy General Counsel for Liberty Tire Recycling, Nate is responsible for a diverse range of corporate legal matters which include business contracts, litigation, litigation management, employment law, real estate, acquisitions, business transactions, and general business law matters. In his role as DGC he provides day to day legal support to the company’s operating regions in the US and Canada and provides counsel to Liberty’s regional vice presidents and senior leadership. Prior to law school, Nate worked for IBM’s Technology Division in Burlington, Vermont in a business role. Nate earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the State University of New York at Fredonia, MBA from Clarkson University and Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. During law school Nate served as Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Technology Law and Policy, was a distinguished finalist in the Murray S. Love Trial Moot Court Competition and worked for the Pittsburgh office of Deloitte & Touch, LLP.
Vice President – Membership – Ben Dermont
Ben Dermont is Counsel for Alcoa Corporation, a global industry leader in bauxite, alumina and aluminum products headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ben joined Alcoa in 2015 and has primary responsibility for the real estate, and procurement practice areas. Ben also supports merger and acquisitions, and aluminum sales contracts. Ben is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Immediate Past President – Zack Laplante
Zack Laplante is Counsel, Global Cyber & Data Security, for Eaton Corporation. Zack is an experienced data privacy and cybersecurity counsel, with previous roles serving as Manager in the Legal Function Consulting practice at Ernst & Young LLP, Privacy Legal Counsel for Philips North America, Associate Counsel, Privacy and Data Ethics at Highmark Health, and as Attorney, Regulatory and Compliance at FedEx. He is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, IAPP certified (CIPP/US and CIPP/E), and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2015.
Board of Directors
Adam Barsotti
Adam Barsotti is the Associate General Counsel, Real Estate, for Crown Castle Inc. (“CCI”), the nation’s largest provider of shared telecommunications infrastructure. He collaborates with a team of attorneys and professionals to provide any legal support necessary for managing and operating CCI’s portfolio of over 40,000 cell towers, which includes support for leasing and acquisitions activity to secure the long-term life of those assets.
Prior to joining CCI, he was in private practice for ten plus years at a firm in the Pittsburgh market, focused on transactional real estate, general civil litigation, and served as external claims counsel for various national title insurance companies.
Adam earned his J.D. degree from Duquesne University School of Law where he was a comment editor on Law Review and received a B.A. in History from Denison University in Granville Ohio.
C. Justin Conrad
Justin Conrad is Senior Corporate Counsel, Real Estate & Operations for Clear Channel Outdoor, LLC ("CCO"), an innovative market leader in the out-of-home advertising industry. He works with CCO's Real Estate Team in managing a portfolio of over 70,000 billboard displays and other advertising opportunities in both roadside markets and commercial airports nationwide.
Prior to joining CCO, he was in-house real estate counsel for the nation's largest provider of shared wireless infrastructure and was previously employed in private practice with law firms specializing in oil and gas/energy and medical malpractice defense litigation, respectively.
Justin earned his J.D. degree from Duquesne University School of Law and his B.S. in Finance (with a German minor) from Penn State University. He currently serves as Treasurer on the Executive Board of Blood Cancer United, a cause that is very near and dear to his heart.
Monica Deoras
Monica most recently served as Senior Counsel at Bechtel Power Corporation, a global engineering company, headquartered in Reston, VA, where she supports their commercial nuclear power business. Her prior experience includes serving as Assistant General Counsel to TrueCommerce, Inc., Assistant General Counsel at Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC, and Chief Legal Officer at FS-Elliott. She has extensive experience in both domestic and international transactions and corporate compliance matters having negotiated agreements for major construction, infrastructure and sales transactions for nuclear power, other energy and software technology companies in multiple countries.
Monica was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School where she taught Negotiation Skills to 2nd and 3rd year law students. She is currently an Office Hours Mentor at Project Olympus at Carnegie Mellon University and a mentor for Aspire 360. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, paddle tennis and is learning pickle ball.
Sabrina Hudson
Sabrina Hudson is currently Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Businesses and North America Procurement teams at The Kraft Heinz Company. In this role, Sabrina leads a team of four attorneys and one senior paralegal who work hand in hand with colleagues across the company to grow our brands, cultivate valuable partnerships, and champion strong go to market strategies while proactively mitigating risks and guiding a culture of compliance. Prior to this role, Sabrina was the Deputy General Counsel, Global Intellectual Property, responsible for the Company’s global intellectual property matters, including prosecution, enforcement, and licensing of and transactions involving copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Sabrina has worked for Kraft Heinz for over eighteen years. Prior to joining Kraft Heinz, Sabrina worked as an associate at a large law firm where she handled trademark prosecution and enforcement matters and general litigation matters.
Erin Ickes
Erin Ickes is the Legal and Compliance Officer for American Textile Company, an international bedding manufacturer based in Duquesne, PA. As general counsel Erin handles labor and employment, product liability, contracts, and a variety of other legal functions. Prior to joining American Textile Company Erin worked in house for TeleTracking Technologies, a healthcare technology company, ServiceLink, a mortgage-servicing company owned by Fidelity National Financial, and EQT, a Pittsburgh-based natural gas producer, and spent 3 years at firms before that handling insurance litigation and transactional issues in the energy industry.
Erin earned her J.D. degree from Pitt Law and her BA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She currently serves as a Board member for the Jefferson Regional Foundation and a Vice Chair of the Board for FamilyLinks, both of which are nonprofits focused on healthcare and social services in the Pittsburgh region.
Ashley Piovesan
Ashley Piovesan is Associate General Counsel for Alcoa Corporation, a global industry leader in bauxite, alumina and aluminum products headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ashley manages Alcoa’s global litigation portfolio and Ethics & Compliance team. Prior to joining Alcoa in October 2018, Ashley was an attorney at Crown Castle International Corp. where she managed litigation matters. Before moving in-house, Ashley was a litigator with Robb Leonard Mulvihill LLP concentrating her practice on insurance coverage and commercial litigation matters. Ashley received her B.A. in Political Science and Women’s Studies from Miami University and her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Ashley is also a Hearing Committee Member for the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board.
Kyle Richard
Kyle is Chief Counsel – Global Public Sector and Regulated Industries for Dayforce, a global provider of Software as a Service. In this role, Kyle manages Dayforce’s global government and regulated industry footprint, including client contracting, compliance, privacy, structuring, and regulation. Kyle works closely with business and legal teams within Dayforce to develop creative solutions to issues and risks associated with these relationships.
Prior to working at Dayforce, Kyle led legal teams and functions at the University of Washington, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, and in a law firm in the Seattle market. His focus has always been on global compliance with a wide variety of legal requirements and obligations. Throughout his career, Kyle has been considered a valuable advisor beyond his legal position.
Kyle received his J.D. from the University of Washington after graduating cum laude in Finance from the University of Washington. Kyle began college at 14 years old and law school at 18 years old.
Carl Ronald
Carl Ronald is Associate General Counsel, Transactions and IP at Agility Robotics, where he is responsible for supporting procurement and commercial operations, negotiating and documenting agreements with vendors for specialized equipment and novel parts, and intellectual property strategy and execution.
Prior to Agility, Carl was partner and co-leader of the Emerging Technology practice at Babst Calland in Pittsburgh. Carl earned his law degree at Duquesne University and his biomedical engineering degree at Boston University.
Blaire Scott
Blaire Scott serves as Counsel at SonicWall Inc. Together with its network of partners, SonicWall helps organizations of all shapes and sizes stay successful and secure through its cybersecurity products, services and support for business.
In her role, Blaire is responsible for various tasks including trade compliance, data privacy and data security, contract drafting, review and negotiation, providing guidance to the senior leadership team and senior management on compliance issues, development of legal policies and strategic business planning, and handling and responding to various employment legal matters.
Prior to her time at SonicWall, Blaire was Corporate Counsel at NCC Group and before that Associate Counsel for 6 years at Liberty Tire Recycling where she was responsible for contract drafting and negotiations, developing health and safety management programs, drafting legal policies, providing OSHA counseling, advising on various employment legal matters and assisting with the enterprise risk program.
